Split Rose
by Cloud-1-3-5 and Ame Emi Dai
Summary: Promises should always be kept. After a disturbing dream, Dark and Daisuke's relationship starts to split apart...literally. Yaoi. DarkxDaisuke
1. Prologue

Author's Note: Oh yes::punches the air and tries a round-house kick, falling on her bum: ite-ite...My second fanfic on this account, unfortunately, but this one I'm continuing no matter what. My other Silent Hill epic lost its luster after half of its pages were lost as well, but I'm gonna kick my ass into gear, toughen up and just rewrite it again, 'cause that one had potential. Many thanks to Bazu-kun, the other author of this account, for a much-needed beta. :bow: Hope you like, take care and have fun::blows a kiss and jingles her bell collar:

Warnings: Language, violence, and homosexual sex. Maybe not explicitly, I'll have to decide if it's worth the freakin' idgits (Irish) that run around going, "Oooh, I know M means Mature, and lookie! IT SAYS YAOI-HAHA-HOMO? What's that! Oh well!...Oh nyuu, my virgin eyes! Mummy!" I'll hunt you all down someday. With a smile.

Disclaimer: I do not own DNAngel, just Mana Matsushita and Marise Fujiko. DNAngel remains dear bunny-sensei and Auska's property, I'm only using it for hot bumsex of my whimsy. Thank you

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Magical luminescent fireflies danced across the dark, non-reflective body of watery sky one by one, lights popping on to illuminate spirits coming alive during the twilight hours. Its collective brightness turned the murky firmament into a false morning, but still cast shadows along every curve, corner or bend, permitting creatures to slink unseen.

Midnight scarf fluttering lifelessly to and fro in a late summer breeze, Daisuke gazed down from his perch on a cathedral pyre to the ground below, trained to the tamer's intent destination. The auction house. Guards were posted at the back entrance, front, and he knew rather than saw that their attention was set to windows and fire escapes. However, surprisingly, no men were stationed on top the two-story structure, nothing but a small latch that probably had been there since the building's initial construction some years ago. This was the attic, for in olden days paintings and other auction items had been carelessly stored there for safekeeping, and because of its age, was overlooked when the police were deigned to secure the premises.

/All right, Daisuke, there's our opening. It's almost time/ the tamer's partner said, seriousness lacing his words. But he still offered the redhead an encouraging smirk. His smirk faltered when Daisuke bade him only a silent acknowledgement, some hidden sorrow, maybe even fear closing off Daisuke so tightly from Dark that even he couldn't understand what it could be. Usually they shared a strong empathy. Now the tamer's every thought was sealed away under lock and key.

The ever-growing distance between them started after a nightmare a few days prior, one that Dark himself had not witness while Daisuke slept, and Emiko worried for her son after that night that he'd become cold and despondent. He hadn't become what she feared but his amiable smiles and cheerfulness were a watered down version compared to the real thing.

_"Mana Matsushita was a widowed, acclaimed artist around the time of your grandfather, even top around the Hikaris," Daisuke's mother had explained, a frown creasing her brow when he acknowledged the information with a simple nod, staring blankly at his shoes. "Her last work was just found and will be bid upon. Art historians and collectors are coming all over to try and get it. I put the warning out for their late gallery…Daisuke, will you be ok?" _

Phantom Dark had actually begun to worry for the boy.

Down below, amongst the streets, a young lady appeared from a classy car, so immaculately kept like a toy, waving her chauffer off. A delicate designer jacket was draped around tiny shoulders, making her look smaller than she probably was.

Daisuke nodded to himself, knowing this girl was part of the heist tonight. For the first time for what seemed hours, he offered Dark a small "good luck", ashamed as salty tears began to run down his cheeks as he concentrated on what he loved most but could never have and allowed the transformation. _I can't let him know, I can't let myself be weak._

The change had already occurred as Dark's hand flew up, trying to wipe away his companion's tears, mentally cursing as the wetness was already gone, and his own cheek dry. _I can never comfort him…_Usually Dark Mousy tried not to get too tied up in other's affairs if he could help it, but…

With rubbed soothingly against his other master, the warmth of its fur morphing into the dark-haired man's hand. The kaitouh couldn't help but smile, raven feathers curling against his back, focusing on the job at hand, placing Daisuke's plight for later. Balanced on the pyre's tip, he threw out his arms and let gravity embrace him, falling into the wind's cure.

As the girl approached the auction house, a single tuft of black-looking snow fluttered down and she caught it with two fingers, running the plumage against her cheek. A barrel-chested guard greeted her, stood aside and resumed his position.

The clock tower chimed its tolling hour, waiting for the last and twelfth resounding ring.

Soundless, seamless, like a graceful cat curling into a seductive arch, Dark landed onto the roof, all fours, and prowled to the unguarded latch, intent on crawling down to take his new work of art. /Dai...look at all this beautiful work left behind, forgotten/ he said, amazed, canvases littering everywhere, overthrown with clothes. It was a shame to let pieces of someone's soul and devotion collect with neglectful dust.

Distantly, below, a voice came loud and clear through the thickness of the rafters. "My cue," the thief told himself, stealing away with all skill and grace to the halls behind the auction room, leapt up through naked pipes and listened to an elderly man address the assembly, tires curling with mirth at all the betting peoples' eager little faces.

/Menou/ Dark started, to his chagrin, as his tamer blurted out suddenly, shock and befuddlement evident in his voice. /That girl looks almost exactly like her/

Ripples of light encased the painting in pools of gold against the wall, creating a halo along the young woman's hair. The kaitouh blinked widely, a little taken aback by the really uncanny resemblance to the poor girl that had been entrapped by the Agus Linx inadvertently by Daiki those years ago. He noticed two very distinguishing features that set them apart, however. Menou had enchanting forest-green eyes, soft and round as a beautiful field, but this girl pinned him with sharp, liquid silver irises, slightly wavy blonde tresses only falling below her trim waist and black handkerchief skirt.

Dark quelled an uneasy lurch when the Menou look-a-like glimpsed in his direction with a knowing smile, once again letting the shadows envelope him. Her aura continued to haunt his mind. / I have this gut feeling Daisuke...Like maybe she saw me./ Daisuke did not answer him and his heart sank, so he continued swiftly through the storage rooms, down through a spiraling staircase to the basement.

Tinkling laughter flit down the halls, a quiet aristocrat-like noise. No other sound filled the commons or corridors. The guards held their positions, flanked by Takeshi's father, whom eyed the auction house receptionist's clock as if it were a countdown until Doom's Day. _C'mon...One more time, Phantom Dark. Show yourself..._

"The late Mana Matsushita, worldly known as Akibara, will finally have her last and most cherished Rosa Amator, also known as Rose Lover and Lover's of Destiny, auctioned off by her own granddaughter, Ms. Marise Fujiko. Ms. Marise?" the auctioneer implored, politely stepping aside from the podium. Marise gave a small little bob of her head and stepped up. Everyone broke out into excited exclamations, mostly commenting on her resemblance to her grandmother when she was a youthful, stunning lady.

Marise's lips curved slightly, just oh-so slightly to show everyone assessing her just how 'interested' she was in them. The members' number cards sat in each lap, waiting for the bidding to begin, craving to get their hands on the last and most precious piece of Mana Matsushita. A pack of ravenous wolves they were, coming to feed on the final tender morsel of meat. They did not care for her grandmother any other way at all. What kind of woman she was or why she hadn't sold this painting ever before. That's why the sweet, mellifluous words that came from her felt so good. "I am afraid to inform you...that I won't be auctioning this painting at all, actually."

A stunned, hushed crawl fell to the crowd now, especially Marise's lawyers, stricken with humiliation. What? Was this a joke?

"I only first agreed to auction this piece after it was found, by my own lawyer's request, even when my gran'mother's last words were, 'Never let the roses die, keep them close Marise. Let the thorns pierce your skin.'" She smiled thinly at her lawyers themselves and reveled in the twos' squirming. "I'm overdue in firing them anyway, I think. I need a new representative." The two men shifted nervously, loosening their ties, trying to laugh as if to convince themselves and everyone else she was joking. What a curious girl!

Deep within the building's inner workings, Dark overheard her speak, the words bouncing around him, as his hands were inches from cutting the auction house's power. /Daisuke, did you hear her/

/I did Dark...What do we do/ Dark's host finally gasped fearfully. They had to make quick work of these unlikely series of events.

"I'm sorry to inform you that I'm not in the least bit joking. My mind is made and my mother's lawyer's informed me the painting was granted to me in my gran'ma's will.

"I made a promise to Menou...Marise..."

"Menou was your twin sister, right gran'ma...? Who said she had a guardian angel...?"

"But for those who are avid lovers of her work, you will be able to see it in museums all around the continent, beginning with our own, beside her other works in loving memory. Then, it will come back to my own estate where it will remain and become the heirloom of my family."

An undignified uproar erupted from the auctioneers', livid at this spoiled girl's rational. Everybody began to make a scene, protesting for all their worth, the layers of dignified society melting away to the true selfishness of their upbringing and desires. How dare she; how dare she!

As they continued to rant, Marise merely bowed once more, ignorant to the din of shouts, and smiled. A last request of a family member is above all else...

Insistent yells turned to screams of panic as the lights shut off, like an enormous wing covering the sun. Collective shrieks of "Dark Mousy!" surrounded them.

Screeching of chairs made Marise wince and she covered her ears, letting out a breathy gasp as an arm secured around her waist, a velvet voice soothing, "Don't scream." She nodded and allowed herself a small grin, before the hollow flutter of wings filled the room.

Agent Saehara and his squad swarmed in all around, rifles ready and loaded, the team leader motioning three men to the structure's basement to turn the lights back on.

Saehara huffed all the way to the front of the room, blinking blurrily as the lights popped back on. The auction house's owner, Ken Yuzuha was sat on a chair with his head in his hands and a blank look on his face. People continued to panic and fret, hurrying out the designated exits like a wild stampede. The detective rubbed a dull headache piercing his temple, muttering angrily under his breath.

The painting and Marise Fujiko were gone. Commander was going to be very displeased but he wouldn't go down without a fight. The detective turned toward Ken and held up a single, raven-black feather to him, watching him jump. "Tell me what you saw."

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Outside the courthouse was placid and inviting, the twilight hour beckoning them. Dark carefully landed with Marise in his arms, her small fingers tightly clutching the painting to her. She finally peeked her eyes open, coming from a high of being whisked away into the air like a fairytale. The shorter girl blushed and murmured, "I'm fine now."

She fixed her skirt when the phantom thief set her down with a long bow and flirtatious wink; hand fixed on his hip as his gaze roamed along her. "Looks definitely run the family," he teased, leaning down to take her delicate chin in his gloved fingers.

Marise played up the part, fluttering her lashes; playfully slapping his hand away as it, or so he had thought, deftly touched the painting. "Nuh-uh, dear thief. I made a promise that I'm going to keep. This lured you in quite well." Dark tried to mask a surprised look. "I bet he looks just like his gran'father did," she continued with that knowing look again.

/Dark! Do you think she's saying what I think she's saying/

/It could be Daisuke. This little bird is intriguing me more and more./ "Well, well, so your grandmother told you about me? My charm sure lingers."

"Oh yes, it's left quite an…. Impression...Tall, _dark_, and handsome." She came closer, almost touching her lips with his. Internally Marise fretfully prayed the infamous phantom Dark and Daisuke Niwa's grandson were really ready to boldly challenge fate.

Dark smirked at her forwardness, somewhat intoxicated by a heady and flowery scent reaching the young man, oblivious to the intricate 'trap' he was falling in to. He put a hand to his chest when a wave of sudden deep-rooted, hopeless sadness made him weak in the knees. /D-Daisuke…/

/….Dark…/

Marise's eyes flashed when her unsuspecting prey was ensnared, rough but crisp words falling like lead from hurried lips, "_Tribuo in duos quod fio unus pro infinito…_" A rush came; powerful and swift. The incantation struck Dark like a lethal blow, sending him sprawling and seeing…seeing himself still standing and Daisuke falling down instead. Daisuke's eyes widened, mirroring his own horror and they reached for each other.

Tribuo in duos…

Fingers brushed. Why didn't I feel the trap?

Quod fio unus…

"Daisuke, what's going on? Grab my hand!"

"Dark, I-"

Pro infinito

Darkness.

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Author's Note: Dearly Beloved, if you so shall grace me, reply with comments and constructive criticism::bows low again: Author's feed on reviews, I swear! It's a known fact...thus I have been starved for so long. xx


	2. Keep On Dancing

Author's Note::dancudancu: Thank you for **all** the wonderful reviews! So many...I was planning on getting this out earlier, but with complications with work/school and many beta-reads, as well as trying to get the ending out right-which I think I still failed in-here it is

Warnings: Language, violence, and homosexual sex. This means the copulation, or to the stupid, the sexual intercourse between two males. Two. Boys. Screwing. Mmkay? I won't burden your little, fragile and pure minds with an uncensored, wild orgy sex scene against so I'll probably edit it. So stfu. Right now. Or I'll eat you.

Disclaimer: I do not own DNAngel, just Mana Matsushita, Marise Fujiko and Hina Delacroix. DNAngel remains dear bunny-sensei and Auska's property, I'm only using it for hot bumsex of my whimsy. Thank you

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Light came through pinpoints, coaxing open his sandy eyes like little hands. He moaned as being roused from sleep suddenly brought on a blinding headache. The redhead cradled his face, eyes snapping open as everything that had happened as if seconds ago was fresh in his mind.

"Oh Kosuke, he's awake!"

"Are you sure? If he still wasn't he is now…"

"Mom…Dad?" Daisuke croaked, his throat parched from lack of use. Emiko hurried to the window, drawing each blind so the boy's eyes could adjust to the room's natural light. "Oh Dai-chan!" she practically whined in relief, reaching out to drag her only son to the safest haven mother's thought possible for children. Their chest.

Emiko's husband patted her shoulders wearily, prying the vice-like grip of her arms away from Daisuke. "Don't suffocate him, Emi-chan, he just woke up."

Daisuke took a deep breath while Emiko composed her mother hen moment with reluctance and opted to ask if Daisuke wanted strawberries. He flushed and kindly accepted, catching Kosuke's inquiring gaze when she left. "Dad…what happened?"

The young father sat close to the bed, which the tamer realized was his parents', offering him pain reliever and water. Daisuke took them with gratitude, the water cool to his desert-rough throat, setting the glass down. Kosuke grasped his son's hands with his own calloused ones, emitting the silent paternal worry that he rarely, strongly showed. "Your grandfather found you two…He was at the auction, obviously for sentimental reasons regarding Mana Matsushita and her twin Menou…"

Clasping their hands together more firmly, Daisuke leaned forward, "I never knew she had a twin, not even Dark-" Kosuke immediately froze as the name left his Daisuke's mouth. "Dark!" Oh no, what happened to him? Is he all right? Maybe Marise did something-maybe…Mistaking the solemn look on his father's face Daisuke covered his mouth, trying to fight the urge to become violently ill. "D-dad, that spell, i-is…he-"

"Dead?" the aforementioned thief supplied from the bedroom door, feigning shock. "Moi? I think not my dear Daisuke; I'm quite well." He spun about in a showcase type twirl, admiring himself, "Oh, if I were someone else I'd do myself."

Kosuke threw Dark a withering glare at the rude interruption, but Daisuke was completely stone still in shock, oblivious to everything he'd said.

Grinning, Dark came over to the bed and tilted his head at the comical expression on his tamer's face. "Dai, you look like a fish."

Daisuke, still dumbfounded, couldn't find his voice and began flapping wildly, trying to convey somehow what he wanted to say as words failed him.

At this point Kosuke left the room to give them a private moment, shaking his head.

"Now you look like a bird," Dark continued to tease but all the humor fell from him when his tamer began to tremble and hiccup. "Hey, look at me Daisuke," the kaitouh prompted resolutely, shifting mannerism completely, empathetic. His crooked finger lifted the boy's chin, keeping his gaze steady. "I want you to know I'm as confused and scared as you are. I don't admit this often or lightly, but Marise caught me off guard." Violet fringe shadowed burgundy irises. "She pulled a fast one on me, Dai. That powerful of a spell shouldn't have been made by such a young girl with no family magic, like the Hikaris and the Niwas…Dai?"

Thin, small fingers ran across Dark's in a curious, memorizing motion. Another path trailed from neck to face. "I'm listening…I just can't believe…" Daisuke mused, awestruck that Dark was there, just inches away, incarnate. _He's so warm…_And despite wanting his body back so intently for so long, his mind felt hollow, vacant…empty. It scared him that the yearning for that presence again was so…Why? "I guess it would be redundant by asking if this is a dream…"

With scurried in the room fast as his chubby paws could follow to its awoken master and bound onto the bed, bumping his head against Dark's thigh. "_Kyuu!_"

The moment was lost, Daisuke's arm recoiling from the thief in humiliation. He scooted away, glaring at his hands as if filthy. "I need fresh air," the tamer murmured, his dream burning behind closed eyelids. _No, no…Not now._

The soothing touch on his skin disappeared. Dark nearly protested the loss, caught up in the phenomenon of being able to physically come into contact with Daisuke outside of the world created in his conscious. It was a simple thing, but for some reason the concept was fascinating.

"Wait!" he tried as the redhead threw the thick coverlets back, ruby eyes glistening like mournful, snuffed flames asking-no-pleading to let him go, just for now… "Don't go far, please," the thief relented, reaching out to touch Daisuke's cheek. "We're still in this together."

Light, hurried footsteps left the room, echoing in the chamber of Dark's chest. He released a burdened breath, throwing himself onto the empty bed, warm with Daisuke's lingering body heat. "And so it starts. But what is 'it'?" With curled up obediently against his neck, snuffling.

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"Come again?" the detective reiterated with uncontained horror and a morbid crack of hilarity in his tone. Mahogany irises hardened, impatient crinkles veining from both corners.

The soldier swallowed thickly, handing his boss a fairly worn set of blueprints.

"O-our men found a-a latch, sir, atop the roof…i-it leads to an old, now unused attic…the locked door with stairs leading to the storage room…was unlocked."

To absorb all this rapidly infuriating information, Agent Saehara pressed thin lips oh-so thinner, and as his psychologist instructed him to do: count to ten. _One-fucking thousand, two-goddamn thousand, three-argh! _"You mean to tell me…this," here the blueprints were waved about, "didn't have that," indication toward the roof, "on here?" Nod. "All right…why the HELL **not!**"

Another soldier came from the auction house, allowing himself a bedraggled sigh. "Sir, we found out from the owner that the auction house had extra construction done by a second architect seventy-five years ago whom trashed the originals and never knew of the attic because all work was done on the first floor."

"So this building is a little more than one hundred years old. But the blue prints are seventy-five years old, designed by the most incompetent architect in history."

"Yes, sir," the two detective's men said in unison. "Are you all right, sir?"

Agent Saehara, with trembling hands and shocking calm, appeared to contemplate ripping the blueprints in half, decided better, let them drift to the floor, turned toward the park and screamed.

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Sea-salt air stung, bitter but refreshing, making Daisuke's nostrils flare. He stretched his arms, wiggled his toes, touched ears, mouth and nose. _How can this be…? That I'm me again? Is this a dream come true or a nightmare?_

Trepidation became an unpleasant coil in his stomach; fear an invisible predator lurking somewhere. _I can't believe I touched him like that either_, he chastised his foolishness. _What's happening?_ The redhead hugged himself, cold only clad in pajama pants and shirt. _My dreams, now this… _

"Daisuke…"

A heated chill ran across the boy's spine and he gripped his shirt as if to grab his heart and cease its thunderous pacing. Maybe it was both. A dream coming true that _was_ a nightmare. How else could it be explained? Dark abruptly had become a separate entity. Would that mean…that he would leave? Become rogue and do whatever he wanted on his own? Have any girl he's ever wanted…? "Argh! Stop it, stop it right now!" Daisuke cried, the sound rippling over the dusky ocean below, echoed by the hungry seagulls' own piteous caws. Right now, the lesser of the two evils that Daisuke could do was go home and have a nice, long talk with everyone over tea. _And try not to stare blatantly at Dark, _he groaned, looking directly into the hazy sky, a low rumble from a sleeping beast touching the ground. _Marise….why did you do this? _"At least…I don't think it can get any worse." He might as well have knocked on wood as the beast above opened up and fed the thirsty earth.

"Thank you...I needed that."

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"Oh no!" Emiko jumped, startling the males seated around her as well as clattering her jasmine green tea on the coffee table. She began to wail and fret, clambering over the couch, disregarding that she was in a skirt (Kosuke slapped a hand over Dark's eyes) and pressed up close to the window. "My baby! In the storm!" She turned around to her father, livid like a rattlesnake. "You never told me it would rain!"

"I wasn't watching the weather," Daiki defended with a glum bow of his head, sipping his own lukewarm tea, grimacing. "I'm sure he's fine though, he's been through worse."

The young mother crossed her arms to argue, the words dying on her lips when Dark sat up without an utterance, flinging on Kosuke's jacket. Emiko's husband barely rose in disagreement to the kaitouh's actions, but at least managed, "Don't lose that" before Dark threw the door open, yelping as he was greeted by a unusually drowned looking red cat.

Daisuke blinked water from his long lashes, the wet and thin fabric of his clothes showing the pale peach of a willowy frame. This didn't bother him however as much as seeing Dark did. He nearly sprang ten feet in the air and clung to the gutter but calmed himself when the dark-haired teen slipped the jacket off and fitted it around him. The action made him blush when he was escorted inside and told to sit down.

The silence didn't stretch long as Daiki spoke up to address what their unplanned meeting was clearly about. "It is plain to see that Marise is connected to some form of magic. I became acquainted with Mana for only a little, because I found out about her long after I knew Menou." The old man almost slipped into a wistful reminiscence but stole himself away from it to continue. "I only remember little of our brief conversations and even littler than that that gave me hints to as what her granddaughter might be doing."

When no one else commented, Dark piped in, "She said something about a promise. I had heard it several times, especially when she was talking to me."

Daiki rubbed his whiskers in an oval, horned-owl eyebrows knitting together. "This is quite a predicament indeed. I don't have much of a clue as to her intentions, but one thing is for sure. There is some type of powerful magic in the picture that Mana created that Marise knows about. And we still need that painting. Finding that painting can help us also find out what happened between you two."

"But it's traveling," Daisuke reminded them all, curling up on the couch away from Dark. Their close proximity made him shiver, although the coat was an easy balmy temperature. "It'll be at the art gallery and then next, the ballroom that the Delacroix own for their daughter's cotillion. The Delacroix were family friends with Mana Matsushita so it would only be logical they'd have Mana's painting there. Marise and the Delacroix daughter are friends as well."

Even though the whole plan had been merely to take Mana's work of art, Daisuke had become very knowledgeable of Marise's future affairs. It was clear to him now why she had so many things going on at once. She had planned her speech at the auction and everything.

Daiki barely contained a pang of pride for his grandson's resourcefulness. "That is true. But we can not stop it, so we'll do the next best thing."

Kosuke's head rose in interest, urging his father-in-law on.

"We'll follow it."

"Follow it?" Dark and Daisuke asked in unison, the tamer clamping his mouth shut. The thief gave him a wary look before addressing Daiki, his former tamer. "So you want us to follow Marise and try to get the painting away?"

"Yes," Daiki confirmed, determination set in his age-worn features. "But you won't be able to get into the gallery. So you'll go to the cotillion."

Daisuke pulled the coat tighter, perplexed. "But gran'pa, we don't have an invitation!"

With an unexpected revelation, Emiko shot up as her tea clattered again, triumphant. "Leave that to me!"

"Emiko, sit down…"

Towa peeked her head out from the kitchen, blinking with a small smile. "Does anyone else want more tea?"

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Daisuke looked at himself furtively, tightening his tie. "Cotillions aren't that popular anymore. I'm surprised they're having one."

"Just a fancy way of a teenage girl partying," Dark explained all-knowingly, picking at his teeth, making sure the cuffs of his suit were straight.

He was dashing as always, the ever-present glow of prince charming waiting to save a damsel in distress while still maintaining a hot outfit exuding from his every pore. The redhead fumbled with his tie again, trying not to gawk. Slightly larger hands covered his own, fixing it as 'the fox chases the rabbit around the tree and down the hole' played through Daisuke's mind, trying to take it off Dark's touch. _Now of all times I remember how it went…_

"There you go, easy and painless." The thief patted Daisuke's chest, ruffled his hair in a brotherly way and resumed his former position by the mirror.

"As much as you look nice preening yourself, I believe you're fine…" Daisuke tried, shuffling. They needed to be there by six and it was already going on five thirty.

Dark turned with a dramatic flare, gasping. "You deny me this moment that I have my own body? This moment where I'm going into that Cotillion not as Dark Mousy but Kenji Niwa, cousin of Daisuke Niwa? I might not have another chance to be myself because I'll be your fake relative for the rest of my miserable existence!"

Mortified by Dark's over-the-top grief, Daisuke threw his hands up in frustrated surrender. "I hate you."

"Love you too, muffin," Dark winked, standing with what could be classic and perfect poise for a gentleman. He transformed from dangerous and haughty thief to a respectable young man. The thought never occurred to Daisuke that this might be the only party Dark had gone to on his own terms and his own will. "Plus, Riku and Risa will be there. Gotta look good for my ladies, although they'll only be able to get a glimpse of me. 'Cause I have to be 'aloof' after all."

Riku and Risa! "How could I forget!" the redhead moaned so pathetically, Dark would've mistaken the yowl for a dying cat rather than his companion.

"Chin up old chap, no need to fret. Your pretty little face will get worry lines. You won't change, Dai, remember? I'm all right here." . _I'll make sure he has a night to remember and a night to forget whatever's bothering him._ Dark turned to face him, displaying himself, eyes shining

"Yes…yes you are. Now let's go before mom comes with the camera."

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"Holy SHIT." Dark exclaimed ineloquently as they approached the ballroom and banquet place from Daiki's car, immediately mucking up the allure of a fine gentleman for a moment. "This place is the ritz! Those statues are pure gold and were made by Alphonse Federico; those goddamn ornate trimmings on the doors are Valse!"

Daisuke blanched as Dark fluttered to the building as if to stroke a long-lost lover, but was smiling inside at the way the thief not only had stolen art but also harbored a liking and knowledge for it. Unfortunately, parting is such sweet sorrow. "Dark," he muttered inconspicuously, "I believe they expect us to go _through_ the doors, not consort with them."

Dark's eyes slit somewhat, stepping away as he presented their 'invitation' to the doorman and never wasted a moment in disarming the man's glare with a grin. The doorman chuckled and turned toward the open ballroom floor, yelling with a voice that he was surely hired for, "Daisuke Niwa and his cousin Kenji Niwa take the floor!"

"Madre de dios," Daisuke's 'cousin' whispered, plugging his ear. Every single person, the grand total being approximately all of the teenage population in the city, turned toward the entrance. Daisuke felt his face flare up and took one side step toward Dark, now adhered to him. Ooh, so many people.

"Oh Daisuke!" a female exclaimed from the heart of the festivity, running toward him as her very elegant and chiffon dress swished around delicate ankles, reminding him of the plum nighttime sky being viewed from a boat. She was a petite girl, dark hair in sausage curls, and white-blue giggling eyes with a matching smile. "I haven't seen you in ages!" she all but shrieked, hugging him with all that her body could muster.

As he looked at her more and more closely, Daisuke had an epiphany. "Hina!"

Hina pulled back, glad that he had remembered. "Yes, we've lost touch for awhile, haven't we? You're so grown-up, I remember you in primary school when we were this small," the charcoal-haired girl motioned to below her waist. "You're so handsome!"

_Of **course **Daisuke, Hina **Delacroix**!_ She'd come overseas as her family had invested in an ancient ramshackle building on the verge of shambles and created the most infamous banquet and ballroom place in their whole city. They'd lost contact after she was sent to private school and he had almost forgotten her name. No wonder they had been able to get in, Emiko had probably spoken with Geniva, Hina's mother. It felt wonderful to see her.

"Come, and bring your cute cousin," Hina beckoned, leading him to the centre of the room and the centre of attention.

Dark trailed behind them, ever the heartbreaker, and was relieved no one recognized him with his hair neatly combed and demeanor much more lax and friendly. Plus, the Harada twins were nowhere in site. The tables had turned in their favor; as Daisuke became closer to Hina they became ever the closer to the painting.

Or not.

"Marise, look who it is! This is Daisuke Niwa, my first friend here," Hina introduced with innocent enthusiasm, coming into a semi-circle of people. Daisuke froze as fear gripped him, on the verge of pack-peddling all the way home, even through traffic.

Hoary orbs flashed at the tamer, a spark close to notice and expectance lighting in them. "Oh, what a charming boy. You always know the attractive ones, Hina," Marise prodded good-humoredly, her roving gaze sweeping over to Dark whose face seemed to melt into one of mischievous seduction. "And this must be Kenji…"

Everyone that was anyone was there, from the mayor and his son and other unfamiliar faces, all but Takeshi's father. _Curious..._

Taking the blonde's gloved hand in his, the thief kissed a knuckle, but never lost eye contact with her. "Nice to meet you…and of course, the lady of the hour." He bent low and bestowed the same courtesy upon Hina, but with more zest.

She glowed, tuting a little. "You are quite the man, but I'll leave you to your choice tonight, I'm afraid I'll be stealing your cousin away for a little."

Men and women around the four started chuckling and Daisuke sent Hina an apprehensive noise. He'd anticipated catching up on their lives for a few hours but the way Hina had said she'd be _stealing _him away would suggest otherwise.

"This party is so dull and _boring_," the hostess practically whimpered, tossing several sniffs toward the elderly guests and a couple the redhead recognized as her parents. "Right in the beginning I did the whole nine-yards, speech and all, and I've dined and danced to their pleasure. As you so graciously put it, Kenji, I'm the lady of the hour…and she says let's skip all the rubbish and get down to the nitty-gritty."

"Nitty-gritty?" Dark and Daisuke repeated, but in their own different ring, Daisuke's being taken aback and Dark's being inquisitive.

-----------------------

"A night club!"

"Just leave your jackets and ties in the limo, you'll do fine in button-up shirts and slacks," Hina chirped, putting more dance-fitting shoes on, now in a short frilly skirt showing creamy thighs and a long, low-neck shirt.

Did she do this often?

As Daisuke tried to squeak out in objection he watched as Dark discarded his jacket and unloosened the tie, mane now disheveled and sexy. He swallowed, nice and thick, his fight settling into to the pit of his belly. _God, I thought we came here for a painting, not to run away from my now convict childhood friend's coming-to-society party to go to a rave! _Even so, the jacket was thrown into the limo and as the tie was about to join it, Dark gave it a tug and pulled Daisuke toward him to the _Noir_.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Trying to get you to loosen up," the teen purred and added, "After this we might go back to someone's house and be allowed a room for night and…"

Thankful that this was just to get Mana's piece still, Daisuke let his partner haul him with the other stowaways like a dog on its leash down a set a stairs. "I'm not a toy, I can walk on my own."

"I like this though."

"And I like it too," Marise threw over her shoulder, spinning as her own longer, ruffled skirt fluffed like rose petals, "Sibling love never hurt anyone, eh _Kenji_?"

A few other girls laughed, the noise drowned out by the din of the _Noir's _wild and contagious atmosphere. The bouncer never gave them even the slightest bit of trouble and Daisuke dubiously followed, embarrassed by both Dark and Marise's statements. An arm folded against him, leading them both through throngs of writhing bodies. "Make sure you stay with me and never let Marise get you alone," a hot puff of breath warned into the tamer's ear, making him suppress a keen in response. _Dark…_

The club was just another element of the job, just a much more bothersome job at that, and in the end everything would go back to as it always would be after they'd found out exactly what Marise had brainstormed in that cunning mind of hers.

Hina and her posse let themselves drift toward the back where they took up a booth, ordering drinks. The male entourage of the group were either Daisuke's age or slightly older, maybe Dark's. Their tête-à-tête was interrupted just when one went off to dance and as the tamer and thief kept tabs on them to make sure they all went home together, Daisuke fell in sync with a rhythm and pulse in the air.

Marise took a boy onto the floor and the duo swore she was keeping them in her sights as well, brushing up close and then flitting away, taunting the secret she knew so well. A game of cat and mouse. Dark took up the challenge, edging closer and closer every beat of the music.

Daisuke never danced quite like this. In fact, he'd never exactly danced at all. The vibration was merely an addicting sensation and moving felt like the right thing to do, the right way to run out his energy until there was nothing left. Amongst the other ravers he thought only he was there but became aware of the fact that Dark was there with him on their 'stakeout' and registered an arm that had taken liking to its place on his hip. And they were so snuggly tight together, moving as one, a raging fire as perspiration glittered from them. To be so close…_Is this real or am I dreaming again…?  
_  
Whilst letting the gauzy heat creep up his neck, Dark fell hostage to the dance floor. He'd longed of getting the chance to let go and have fun like this. To his displeasure, his dance partner stopped, the inferno left his core and Daisuke stepped away from his slackening hold. It had been so perfect…

The redhead's boyish face was flushed, breathing hitching every so often. "I'm going to see if I can talk to her or something," was Daisuke's pathetic excuse, making his way through the crowd toward Hina's booth. Dark let him go only to tag along behind, murmuring obscenities to himself.

God, what were we **doing**?

"-the detective that came had no clue, I told him Dark never had a chance of getting the painting at all-"

Despite the overwhelming grip his emotions had on him, Daisuke back-tracked from the club exit to Hina upon hearing what Marise had said, and with sharp hearing, the young lady trailed off and patted the seat next to her, fixing him with her unwavering stare. "Daisuke, love, would you like a drink? I can get you something non-alcoholic if you'd like."

A deer caught in headlights, Daisuke rapidly declined and babbled another excuse about trying to find the bathroom, his honed feline-like reflexes coming to the boy's aid a little too late, walking into someone.

"Er, watch were yer goin' miss," a waiter amended as the redhead lightly knocked into his side, and Daisuke flushed at the 'miss' comment.

Do I really look like a girl to you? But instead he offered a small bow and was about to fervently apologize, cringing when he heard the shattering _ping _and crack of a glass.

But instead he offered a small bow and was about to fervently apologize, cringing when he heard the shattering and crack of a glass. 

"Oi, you little shit!" the waiter suddenly roared in indignation-almost as an injured lion would-upon seeing what their collision had caused. His sullied, chiseled face screwed up into an unattractive scowl, raising a hand as if to strike the poor tamer.

"Imbecile," Dark scoffed, coming up upon the older man's undefended left side with a protective scowl to deliver his own right hook across the bastard's jaw, a deafening smack, tell-tale sound when bones snap, pierced the air. The man swayed, taken aback by the surprise attack, crumpling like useless paper. The phantom thief stood over the motionless body menacingly, "And your fly's open."

------------------------------

Author's Note: Woo-hoo. Rawk out! What's gonna happen next? Wtf has Daisuke's dream done to him to be so damn edgy around Dark? Who the HELL is Marise in all this? I think there's still alot of grammatical errors but this shall be revised and updated later, so for now, enjoy x3 Read and review to your pleasure. Sankyuu so much :bow: If you'd like review responses, just tell me and I'll gladly get them up on chapter three! Which **will** come out sooner than two, I swear. XP


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